Terry McAuliffe on Health Care

Democratic nominee for Governor; previously DNC Chair

Supports ObamaCare's expanding the state's Medicaid program

Cuccinelli reiterated his opposition to President Obama's health-care plan, but he also criticized Obama for not following his own law by postponing the legislation's employer mandate for one year.
McAuliffe, meanwhile, made clear that he still supports the law and stressed that he thinks Virginia should accept the measure's invitation to expand the state's Medicaid program, which Cuccinelli opposes.

Expand Medicaid with $21B in federal funds

During the negotiations over the state budget this year, Gov. McDonnell and both parties in the legislature found a compromise on the issue of Medicaid expansion in Virginia. It will provide Virginia some flexibility and also make it possible for
Virginia to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid.

The federal government is offering Virginia $21 billion in funding over seven years to expand our Medicaid program. If we don't accept the money, it will simply flow to other states.
I believe that Virginia taxpayer money should stay in Virginia. Accepting federal funds for Medicaid has broad bipartisan support: Both conservative & liberal Governors have accepted the funds.

Expanding Medicaid will cover nearly 400,000 uninsured
Virginians and create up to 33,000 jobs by 2021. Covering the uninsured for regular visits to the doctor for shots and checkups and life-saving cancer screenings and treatment will also help reduce health care costs for those with insurance already.

37 million uninsured is not fair

In 1993, Clinton announced the President's Task Force on National Health Care Reform with the First Lady as chair. He declared that the administration would push to control health-care costs and provide health care to everyone.
Unwisely, as we now know, he also vowed to present his plan for health-care reform to Congress within 100 days.

Establish "report cards" on HMO quality of care.

McAuliffe adopted the manifesto, "A New Agenda for the New Decade":

Promote Universal Access and Quality in Health Care That more than 40 million Americans lack health insurance is one of our society’s most glaring inequities. Lack of insurance jeopardizes the health of disadvantaged Americans and also imposes high costs on everyone else when the uninsured lack preventive care and get treatment from emergency rooms. Washington provides a tax subsidy for insurance for Americans who get coverage from their employers but offers nothing to workers who don’t have job-based coverage.

Markets alone cannot assure universal access to health coverage. Government should enable all low-income families to buy health insurance. Individuals must take responsibility for insuring themselves and their families whether or not they qualify for public assistance.

Finally, to help promote higher quality in health care for all Americans, we need reliable information on the quality of health care delivered by health plans and providers; a “patient’s bill of rights” that ensures access to medically necessary care; and a system in which private health plans compete on the basis of quality as well as cost.

Goals for 2010

Reduce the number of uninsured Americans by two-thirds through tax credits, purchasing pools, and other means.

Create a system of reliable “report cards” on the quality of care delivered by health plans and providers.